In semiconductor manufacturing various dielectric films and layers are used to manufacture semiconductor devices such as MOS and memory devices or other integrated circuit devices. Scaling, the process of decreasing the size of semiconductor devices, requires more reliable semiconductor devices. As the size of the semiconductor devices decreases, the number of devices in an IC increases. Therefore, the reliability of each device should increase, or in other words, the failure probability per device should decrease. Along with higher demand for reliability more elaborate testing procedures are also required. The more elaborate testing procedures may lead to more precise and accurate device reliability data.
Dielectric film or layer testing is necessary to discover contaminations, inhomogenities or defects of the film leading to poor performance, poor reliability and short life expectancy of the respective semiconductor devices. Accurate measurement of the quality of the dielectric film or layer is required. Various errors can be made. One source of error can be the set up of the test arrangement. Inaccurate test arrangement results in misleading reliability measurement data which in turn lead to incorrect wafer testing results.
One way of testing dielectric films or layers is to perform the test on product wafers (in line test). In case of a destructive or lifetime reducing test, the tested semiconductor devices can be specifically designed and integrated in the kerf, or scribe line, or chip region so that the test does not affect the adjacent chip areas that become dies later in the process. After the test is performed, the semiconductor devices, arranged and located in the kerf or chip region, are at least partially destroyed.